Compass Lexecon Client Johns Manville Corporation Prevails in Antitrust Litigation

On April 26, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted summary judgment in favor of Compass Lexecon client Johns Manville Corporation (“Johns Manville”) on antitrust claims brought by Chase Manufacturing, Inc. (“Chase”). Chase alleged that Johns Manville engaged in tying and exclusive dealing that foreclosed Chase from the alleged U.S. market for calcium silicate (“calsil”), an industrial insulation product. The Court ruled that Chase had failed to establish that the record supports a finding of an antitrust violation under the applicable standards for summary judgment.

Consistent with the testimony of Dr. Mark Israel from Compass Lexecon, who was retained by Johns Manville, the Court found that the record does not indicate that Johns Manville’s alleged exclusionary conduct foreclosed Chase from distributors of calsil in the U.S. Also consistent with the testimony of Dr. Israel, the Court concluded: (i) that Johns Manville’s bundled pricing arrangement did not foreclose Chase from the alleged calsil market because of the limited size of the relevant rebates, and (ii) that Chase failed to show how Johns Manville’s pricing arrangements went beyond permissible price competition.

Compass Lexecon was retained by Greg Kerwin of Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, LLP on behalf of Johns Manville. Dr. Israel was supported by a Compass Lexecon team that included Jith Jayaratne, Taylor Hines, Ani Gupta, and Ziad Kaddouri. Compass Lexecon expert Jon Orszag was also retained to testify about issues related to Chase’s damages claims and was supported by a team that included Gilad Levin, Taylor Hines, Ani Gupta, and Ziad Kaddouri.